Islamic State (IS) militants have attacked Iraqi security forces near the two main cities of the western province of Anbar.
Reports said IS fighters used suicide car bombs to attack government and allied forces in the town of Khaldiyah, which lies next to a military base between the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.
A police lieutenant colonel was quoted as saying the militants stormed Khaldiyah's Al-Madiq neighborhood "following clashes that forced army and federal police to abandon their positions."
The IS group has controlled Fallujah since early 2014 and captured the provincial capital, Ramadi, in May.
The government called in Iran-backed Shi’ite militias to contain the militants’ offensive.
IS fighters control most of Anbar and a large swath of northern Iraq, captured in June 2014. The group's self-declared caliphate also extends into eastern Syria.
